Pen your way to a Motor City home

"It’s like a writer-in-residence program, only in this case we're actually giving the writer the residence, forever."

The common refrain is that writers need peace and quiet to concentrate and process their experiences and their research in order to write well-crafted stories. But writers also need a supportive literary community and financial stability—facts that have only more recently become topics for open discussions about M.F.A. programs, for instance. Writing groups, a local reading series, university library access, and other literary and journalistic resources can help any writer. Free rent is also nice.

Write A House is a Detroit-based nonprofit that gives homes to qualified writers who already live in the Motor City or are willing to relocate there. The team teaches young folks carpentry skills and renovates old houses that are then awarded to writers. They aim to support three low- and moderate-income writers every year. Those writers are then expected to write and bolster Detroit's literary community. Write A House is also working on producing a literary journal to artistically document their renovation process. The website states: "Our long, long term goal involves building a literary colony in Detroit, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves."

Well, they're already on their way! On May 12, 2014, the Write A House blog announced it had cleaned out its first house set to be renovated. Now to turn that house into a home.